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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
CD may/may not be willing to confirm this, but how your RB is used depends in massive part on how he performed.
You can't necessarily gameplan to force throws to your RBs, no. But if you have a RB that was a really good pass catcher and you give him the reps (especially if you make him a 3rd down back and have your setting aligned to throw a lot on 3rd), he'll get a lot of throws.
I built up a ton of RB depth in both leagues primarily through mid-late round picks and the passes to RBs vary based on which RB I have out there. It sure seems to make a difference.
The issue you faced is one of fit, IMO. Mahomes has stats that reflect his tendencies - he likes to get downfield with the ball and will check down only if necessary. Well you had Kittle and Cooks. Oftentimes Sammy Watkins as well. You had some dudes that could play and get open so if they are, Mahomes is gonna go to them with his RB as a last resort.
I think that's why I just struggled like mad to get Dak to go downfield (ultimately failed and probably should've dialed down the passing to compensate instead of trying to force an efficient round peg into a bomber's square hole) - because in 2018 (those are the stats we're working from), he just didn't do it that often. 7.4 Y/A despite a 67% completion percentage and a really mediocre QBR supports that - dude just wasn't very aggressive. My hope is that 2019, because of increased stats and more aggressive tendencies from him, yields a far more downfield oriented attack. His YPA went up to 8.2 with his completion percentage actually dropping by more than 2 points. He was clearly more aggressive in '19. Because that seems to be how this thing trends and ultimately I'm 'bout out of ideas when it comes to getting him to get the ball downfield a bit or at LEAST get the damn thing out of your hand when there's pressure.
That's my theory anyway. All of this stuff is about performance and fit, then trying to adjust your gameplans as needed to maximize what each respective player did that season.
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That makes some sense about fit.
I just had a similar discussion with my son about Brady. Brady failed him in a lot of games this year. Crucial turnovers, etc. He was dogging his performance in the bowl because he only had around 50 % completion rate and a 6 YPA average. I asked who his TE's were and told him that IRL Brady needs good TE's to be good and that maybe that was the case in Sandbox as well.